This definitive guide cuts through the complexity to show you how Industry Clouds differ from standard Salesforce customer relationship management offerings, why they are a non-negotiable for serious organisations, and how to successfully implement them for maximum ROI.
You’ve heard of Salesforce, the world’s leading CRM. But if your business is in a regulated or complex industry, the standard Salesforce platform may not be sufficient. You might need extensive custom development to meet basic compliance and workflow requirements.
This is where Salesforce Industries comes in. It’s the result of a strategic evolution that incorporates the deep vertical-market expertise of a company acquired by Salesforce in 2020: Vlocity.
Vlocity was known for providing these highly specialised solutions. The acquisition wasn’t only about technology. It was about acquiring pre-built, customisable cloud offerings tailored to different sectors. This resulting suite, now known as the Salesforce Industries, represents a branded platform for industry-specific solutions built natively on the Salesforce platform. Think pre-built data models, specialised workflows, and regulatory compliance frameworks, all tailored to your sector. These solutions are referred to as the Salesforce Industries. They accelerate your business processes.
This definitive guide cuts through the complexity to show you how Industry Clouds differ from standard Salesforce customer relationship management offerings, why they are a non-negotiable for serious organisations, and how to successfully implement them for maximum ROI.
Key Takeaway: Salesforce Industries is the cheat code for complex industries, turning months of custom building into weeks of configuration.
Salesforce Industries is a direct evolution of Vlocity. The Industry Cloud Architecture builds on the core Salesforce Customer 360 platform. However, it has a crucial difference: it extends core functionality, with industry-specific objects and workflows designed by industry experts. The enterprise product catalogue, introduced through Vlocity, streamlines product management and reduces time-to-market by providing pre-built processes and models aligned with industry standards.
This architectural foundation helps explain why Salesforce Industries delivers significantly different capabilities compared to standard Salesforce implementations.
Salesforce offers 12+ Industry Clouds, including the flagship Financial Services Cloud, Health Cloud, Manufacturing Cloud, and Communications Cloud.
These clouds deliver industry-driven solutions. They don't just manage clients; they transform how organisations operate.
These industry clouds streamline operations, boost customer engagement, and unique sector challenges with pre-built solutions that accelerate time-to-value and slash custom development needs.
The contrast between the two approaches is the core argument for adopting Salesforce Industries. It boils down to speed, precision, and efficiency, especially for complex business operations.
For example, let's look at one of the Salesforce Industries options for the public sector would work vs the native custom solution.
| Feature | Standard Salesforce (Custom Build) | Salesforce Industries (Industry Cloud) |
| Industry Compliance | Requires complex, time-consuming custom development. | Built-in frameworks for regulated industries (including government cloud for public sector compliance). |
| Pre-built Workflows | Limited to basic workflows. | Extensive, industry-specific automation (e.g., policy administration, contract lifecycle management, order management, and public sector solutions for grants and public administration). |
| Implementation Time | Typically 12-24 months for complex, custom solutions. | 6-12 months, accelerating time-to-value. |
| Customisation Method | Heavily reliant on code. | Uses OmniStudio’s low-code/no-code platform |
These aren’t empty shells. They arrive with:
OmniStudio serves as the engine within Salesforce Industries. It’s the low-code development platform that allows your teams to configure (not code) industry-specific workflows and customer interactions.
Key Points: Pre-built solutions reduce customisation requirements, implementation speeds increase through ready-made compliance frameworks, and OmniStudio enables industry-specific customisation without complex coding.
While OmniStudio is the engine for Industry Clouds, it is designed to work closely with Salesforce Flows rather than compete with them. To avoid duplication, Salesforce is increasingly aligning these tools, moving toward a future where OmniStudio capabilities are more deeply integrated into the standard Flow builder. This ensures your industry-specific "Guided Experiences" remain compatible with the broader Salesforce automation roadmap.
Adopting Salesforce Industries is a game-changer. We're talking operational efficiency that revolutionises your business through industry-specific automation and pre-built workflows. These business accelerators reduce manual tasks, eliminate errors, and drive down operational costs.
And customers see enhanced experiences as a core benefit. Automotive Cloud transforms dealerships. Health Cloud revolutionises healthcare coordination, with personalised care plans and home healthcare visits. Advanced tools like Contract Lifecycle Management transform how you handle contracts, agreements, and renewals. External data integration provides real intelligence that drives informed decision-making and delivers targeted service.
Organisations moving from standard Salesforce or implementing new industry-specific CRM solutions should follow this structured path:
As you execute the implementation steps above, your organisation must anticipate and proactively address these common hurdles to ensure a smooth deployment and maximise long-term ROI.
| Challenge | Impact on Project | The Solution: Salesforce Industry Approach |
| Limited Customisation Flexibility | Fear of a rigid, out-of-the-box system. | Leverage OmniStudio. Use the 80% pre-built functionality and use OmniStudio for the final 20% customisation. |
| Higher Licensing Costs | Initial sticker shock compared to standard licenses. | Calculate the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Reduced implementation time and lower maintenance deliver ROI in 12-18 months. |
| Change Management Complexity | Customers resisting a new platform/system. | Focus on Familiarity. The use of industry-specific workflows reduces training time because users encounter familiar terminology |
The future of industry-specific CRM is being revolutionised by Salesforce Industries. The most exciting development is Industries AI. unleashing over 100 out-of-the-box AI capabilities across more than 15 industry clouds. This is a game-changer, enabling smarter automation, predictive insights, and enhanced customer engagement.
Salesforce Industries provides pre-built, industry-specific CRM solutions that significantly reduce complexity and accelerate time-to-value for regulated and complex industries. By leveraging the Vlocity foundation and the OmniStudio framework, these solutions deliver specialised functionality that would require months of custom development in standard Salesforce environments.
The transition is no longer a question of "if," but "when" and "how."
We are an award-winning, certified partner for Industry Cloud implementations. To get started, speak to one of our Salesforce Consultants to discuss your Salesforce Industries needs.
